My Wife Was Camping While Her Brother Died

I said urgently, "Ryan needs you to perform heart surgery. Come back to the hospital with me—now!"

The moment Rebecca heard this, her face darkened completely, and her voice dripped with disgust.

"He was perfectly fine when I saw him off this morning," she said. "You'd really go so far as to curse him with a heart attack just to make me come back?"

Convinced I was lying, Rebecca turned to leave with Chase.

I rushed to block her path. "Ryan really is in trouble. I'm not lying to you!"

I held out my phone. On the screen was a video of Ryan lying in a hospital bed. I had recorded it before leaving, just to prove I was telling the truth.

"I'm begging you—come back with me and operate on him!"

But the next second, Rebecca slapped the phone out of my hand.

It hit the ground with a loud crack. The screen shattered.

"That's enough, Noah! If you keep joking about Ryan's life, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

After their parents died, Rebecca and her younger brother had only had each other. Now that I kept insisting something had happened to him, she had reached her limit.

In the past, I would have gone quiet at times like this and apologized just to keep the peace.

But this was a matter of life and death. I forced myself to speak again.

"It's true. If you don't believe me, call the hospital and ask!"

Seeing how insistent I was, hesitation finally flickered across Rebecca's face.

Just then, Chase spoke up from the side. "Ryan just texted me about tomorrow's engagement party. And here you are, his own brother-in-law, cursing him."

He took her arm and coaxed her gently. "There's a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower tonight. Let's hurry. If we're late, we won't get a good spot to watch it."

When I saw the mocking smirk on his lips, I lost it.

"Shut up! What matters more—someone's life or your camping trip?"

I never expected Rebecca to slap me across the face.

That slap was her answer: camping mattered more.

She shouted furiously, "I'm so sick of you! After Ryan gets married, we're getting a divorce!"

With that, she grabbed Chase's hand and walked away without looking back.

…

The slap left me stunned. By the time I snapped out of it and tried to go after them, the phone with the shattered screen on the ground started ringing.

It was Ryan's fiancée.

"Noah, did you find Rebecca?" she sobbed. "The doctor says Ryan isn't going to make it. Come back quick!"

As I heard that, my legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground.

If only Rebecca had come back with me, Ryan would still have had a chance. But she had walked away without a second thought.

Mustering every bit of strength I had left, I shouted after her disappearing figure, "Rebecca! If you don't go to the hospital today, you'll regret this for the rest of your life!"

Still nothing. No response.

All I could do was drive back to the hospital.

In the room, Ryan's face was pale as paper. He reached out to me with trembling hands.

"Noah... where's Rebecca?"

I grabbed his hand, my voice catching in my throat. "I'm sorry, Ryan. I couldn't bring your sister back..."

Ryan managed a weak smile. "It's not your fault, Noah. My sister doesn't know how to appreciate what she has... You've put up with a lot all these years."

At those words, I finally lost it and broke down, clutching him as I wept.

He patted me gently. His voice grew softer and softer in my ears.

"There's something I left for you... in my phone... Noah, if you want a divorce... I support you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ryan stopped breathing.